Irish government complains to U.S. over bugging of their communications

The Irish government has officially complained to the U.S. over bugging of both itself and the European Union, it has been learned.

Meanwhile Irish leader Enda Kenny has stated that he “always” operated on the belief that the calls he made were all being listened to by the U.S.

The Fine Gael leader earlier said he was “appalled” by what has been revealed about the bugging of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Irish Times reports that Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore has revealed that he raised the issue with the U.S. Embassy in Dublin earlier this summer and that he expressed serious concern at the time.

The move followed the revelation in the Snowden files that the NSA had bugged the headquarters of the EU in Brussels.

Following that revelation Gilmore made it clear that the issue had arisen. “The Government has already expressed our concerns to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin at a senior official level.”

He slammed U.S. spying on friendly partners saying that if the EU headquarters was bugged “it would be the equivalent of the European Union bugging Capitol Hill.”

Meanwhile Irish police have been asked to review all of Kenny’s phone use and possible tampering by the NSA.

British expert Duncan Campbell said that he expected that most of the spying in Ireland was being done by British authorities.

Campbell, who revealed the presence of spying programme Operation Echelon, said: “I would not expect any U.S. ops in Dublin. Britain bugs Ireland from top to bottom.”